AITSL Standard 1

Know students and how they learn

1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students

1.2 Understand how students learn

1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds

Please refer to the attached newsletter I created for parents with reference to researching and analysing the social, cultural, political and economic forces which shape the construction of curriculum and plan learning experiences within an inclusive framework which provide responsive and relevant learning experiences for students.

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1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

I have not had the opportunity to work with Indigenous students to date but as outlined in standard 1.4 respecting local culture, history and language is to engage in collaborative relationships with Aboriginal Education Workers (AEWs), parents and community representatives (AITSL, 2014).  I will collaborate with the wider community to make learning more meaningful and support cultural learning across the curriculum and provide Indigenous students with the opportunity to engage in their own cultural traditions in the classroom.   I will collaborate with AEWs to help further build relationships with the students and help develop cultural appropriate lessons relevant to the students and help bridge the gap between myself and the community as AEWs will already have developed strong links in the community with local families (AITSL, 2014).

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I will engage with families and community daily, both inside and outside the school environment (AITSL, 2014a) as Harrison and Sellwood (2016) suggest, build trust through a relationship of reciprocity, demonstrated by attending community events outside of school or assist with special functions.  I will provide plenty of opportunities for parents and community members get to know me as a person and not just as a teacher.

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Sarra (2014) advises teachers to teach students to feel proud to be Aboriginal and proud of who they are and where they come from.  I will achieve this by engaging students in effective learning for example teach from Aboriginal perspectives, investigate language groups or teach dreaming stories as these activities help students relate to home and community experiences. I will value and appreciate cultural diversity in my classroom to further increase student feeling of self worth.

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Effective and best practice in Indigenous education includes integrating local cultural knowledge in the classroom to help link students current understanding and help develop a respect of Aboriginal culture.  I will make lessons relevant to Indigenous students by incorporating local community practices or books relevant to Indigenous culture this can help students relate further to the text and their own personal experiences, therefore  Indigenous students become engaged when they relate learning experiences to what they do in the local community and at home. An effective literacy lesson for Indigenous students I intend to use incorporates the ‘Print Walking’ strategy which is a strategy developed for Aboriginal student and as outlined in standard 1.4 of the AITSL (2014b) allows students to walk around the room to identify pronouns around the classroom related to dreaming stories and students move about rather than restricted to sitting down. Harrison et al., (2016) confirms Indigenous students are more engaged and learn best when not restricted to a desk and chair.

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An additional strategy I intend to use when teaching Indigenous students is by applying Yunkaporta’s Eight Ways Learning Framework (Oakley, 2016) (see attached document). 

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An example of this Aboriginal pedagogy process will link to a year one Geography classroom, teaching the weather and seasons and the ways in which different cultural groups, including Aboriginal Peoples, describe them ACHASSK032 (ACARA, 2016).

 

Teaching the European four seasons and briefly discussing other cultural seasons excludes Aboriginal students and provides limited cultural knowledge.  An inclusive curriculum for Indigenous students will incorporate the local Noongar six seasons, collaborating with the local community representative. Inviting an Aboriginal local community representative as a guest speaker to share stories of the Noongar six seasons and take the students outside to connect to the land and show them the eucalyptus trees in Djeran season for example providing additional knowledge and help students begin to identify signs for seasonal changes. The guest speaker is also the most accurate resource available to students and assists with integrating authentic cultural knowledge in to the classroom. Harrison et al., (2016) confirms Indigenous input is an essential resource as an Aboriginal guest speaker will have valuable insight into Indigenous cultural and can share their stories and life experiences.

 

Students will brainstorm their current understanding on both European and the Noongar seasons and look at a Noongar Seasons poster obtained from the Noongar Culture Organisation to support visual learners.  As Craven and Wilson-Miller (1999) suggests, facilitating visual learning with images, diagrams and symbols imparts new information and understandings.  Additionally, experiencing the known provides children the opportunity to connect to personal life experiences to demonstrate meaning and understanding.  As stated by Craven et al., (1999) discussing what the students already know, will help contextualise learning.  Students need to make connections between what they know and what they need to know.

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Students will also move around the classroom matching picture flashcards to the seasons, as confirmed by Craven et al., (1999) a kinaesthetic approach to learning is beneficial to student learning.  Additionally, the teacher will model how to act out some of the activities that occur during seasons.  Harrison et al., (2016) confirm Aboriginal people in the community learn through observation, modelling and imitation.  Therefore students will benefit from teacher modelling prior to attempting the activities.  Furthermore, the lesson provides meaningful learning opportunities connecting to students life experiences and engages them in real-world activities to provide deeper understanding and take back to their family and community.

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1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

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AITSL Standard 2

Know the content and how to teach it

2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area

2.2 Content selection and organisation

2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting

2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

To achieve positive outcomes for Indigenous students, I will seek support from work colleagues and collaborate  often to learn more about Aboriginal culture and available local resources to further understand how to integrate Aboriginal perspectives across the curriculum as identified in standard 2.4 of the AITSL (2014c).  Teachers working together and bouncing ideas off one another will benefit the students as the teacher will develop on current knowledge and understanding and deliver lessons more relevant to Indigenous students.  For example creating a unit of enquiry on firestick farming, working with what the students already know and link it to mathematics and science subjects (AITSL, 2014c).  Craven (2011, p.243) identified teachers who engage in professional conversations with colleagues further improves teaching practices and also achieves positive learning outcomes for Indigenous students.

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References for standards 1.4 & 2.4

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2016). The Australian Curriculum v8.2. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

 

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL]. (2014). Australian Professional Standards. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list

 

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL]. (2014a). Australian Professional Standards. 1.4 Lead- respecting local culture, history and language [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/illustrations-of-practice/detail?id=IOP00352

 

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL]. (2014b). Australian Professional Standards. 1.4 Print Walking [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/illustrations-of-practice/detail?id=IOP00141

 

Craven, R. & Wilson-Miller, J. (1999).  Teaching Resources and Strategies. Teaching Aboriginal Studies. (pp214-230).  Retrieved from http://edocs.library.curtin.edu.au/eres_display.cgi?url=dc60271281.pdf&copyright=1

 

Harrison, N. & Sellwood, J. (2016). Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education. (3rd Ed.). VIC: Oxford University Press.

Oakley, K. (2016). Presenter: Topic 9 Indigenous Literacy Strategies. Retrieved from https://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_73346_1&content_id=_4264249_1

 

Sarra, C. (2014). Beyond victims, the challenge of leadership. Griffith review. Retrieved from https://griffithreview.com/wp- content/uploads/Chris-Sarra-Beyond-Victims.pdf

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2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies

2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

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AITSL Standard 3

Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

3.1 Establish challenging learning goals

3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs

3.3 Use teaching strategies

3.4 Select and use resources

3.5 Use effective classroom communication

3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs

3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process

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AITSL Standard 4

Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

4.1 Support student participation

4.2 Manage classroom activities

4.3 Manage challenging behaviour

4.4 Maintain student safety

4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically

 

AITSL Standard 5 (5.1-5.5)

Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

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Professional Teacher Assessment Identity

Assessment, Teaching and Learning 

As a graduate teacher it is my role to provide ongoing assessment throughout the learning process and deliver positive, clear and timely feedback to help students demonstrate what they have learnt and assist them to achieve their learning goals (Readman & Allen, 2013).  Assessment, teaching and learning practices need to be integrated and this influences my assessment philosophy with assessment being part of the whole learning process, as outlined in the table attached.  Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering, analysing and reflecting on evidence to make informed and consistent judgements to improve future student learning (Victoria State Government, 2017). 

 

The table demonstrates effective assessment practices with ongoing assessment and feedback to keep the teacher well informed and helps identify when instruction needs to be modified to provide appropriate learning opportunities based on current student knowledge and understanding to assist students to move forward and improve learning outcomes.  Most importantly I will foster a positive attitude towards assessment to enable students to see the value of learning and achieving learning goals.  Readman and Allen (2013) encourage teachers to take on the role of preparing their students for assessments by enhancing positive aspects including the opportunity to learn and further their skills or understanding.

 

My Assessment Principles and Values

As a graduate teacher I will be closely aligning my assessment principles and values to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers standard 5; assess, provide feedback and report on student learning outlined by The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL] (2014) to ensure I deliver high quality teaching. Furthermore, I will endeavour to incorporate the three major approaches to assessment:

 

1. Assessment for learning

2. Assessment as learning

3. Assessment of learning

 

Assessment for learning incorporates a variety of diagnostic and formative assessment throughout the learning process. Through a range of assessment strategies a teacher can gather evidence of student learning.  Both the teacher and student engage in the assessment process with the teacher using assessment to plan lessons based on students’ current understanding and any potential misconceptions.  A formative assessment example is demonstrated in figure 1; a reading and comprehension brainstorm activity from the book Charlotte’s Web, enabling the teacher to clarify student understanding of character’s,  character traits and setting.   

 

Additional formative assessment examples include graphic organisers, running records, quizzes or observation by recording dated anecdotal notes.  As discussed by Black and William (2001) good teaching and effective formative assessment practices enriches learning and helps students to achieve better outcomes in high-stakes tests.  Figure 2 demonstrates a sample of a quick quiz.  This quiz enabled the teacher to clarify students’ mathematical operation skills to enable her to group students into similar ability groups for future activities.

 

In my development as a graduate teacher I intend to use a variety of assessments to identify students’ prior knowledge and current understanding throughout a topic.  This will inform my future curriculum planning and provide evidence of when I need to revisit concepts.  I have already incorporated in my resources a graphic organiser book and a data evidence folder (appendix A & B).  Dated anecdotal records provide evidence of understanding and student growth over a period of time therefore I intend to have dated anecdotal templates out for every lesson for quickly documenting observations of learning.  This can assist me with reviewing the learning that took place, as well as successes and challenges students faced (Readman & Allen, 2013) making my future planning an informed one.  By engaging in this process I am also working towards meeting standard 5.1, Assess student learning (AITSL, 2014).

 

I strongly believe in providing feedback to students on their learning, this aligns to standard 5.2 (AITSL, 2014) and is referred to as Assessment as learning.  Examples include self- or peer-assessment, goal setting, reflection writing, concept maps or even clear and timely feedback from the teacher from annotated work.  Students can use self-assessment to understand the purpose of their learning and know what they need to do to achieve it (Blackman & Wiliam as cited in Sumich, 2017).  I intend to encourage self-regulated learners in my classroom to encourage my students to take ownership and become more accountable for their own learning.  As Black and Wiliam (2001) state, students can achieve a learning goal only if they understand that goal and can assess what they need to do to reach it. I provided one on one feedback often on my practicum as evident in my formative evaluation assessment (appendix C, page 2) as it encouraged students to engage in their own learning and demonstrated to students that assessment is there to help them.  I will therefore continue to provide clear, one on one feedback and in a timely manner to closely align my assessment principles to standard 5.2 (AITSL, 2014). 

 

I intend to use self-assessment rubrics for students to use similar to those I created in appendix D & E.  The learning intentions can be explicitly communicated to students through rubrics and can also be adjusted for differentiated learning.  For example the editing checklist (appendix E) is targeted at a year 4 level but can be adjusted for students who cannot complete sentences or identify proper nouns.  This will assist students to focus on self-monitoring and working towards their own personal learning goals (Readman & Allen, 2013).

 

The above example also aligns with standard 5.3 make consistent and comparable judgements (AITSL, 2014). I will promote assessment as helping students learn, improve and succeed.  I will ensure my assessment practices will be fair and not just high-stakes summative assessments at the end of a unit of work.  All students need equal opportunity to learn and demonstrate their understanding in different ways.  It is imperative I provide different types of assessment to cater to the needs of all students and recognise all student efforts and not just the students achieving at the year level standards. 

 

I will consult with my work colleagues so I can gain additional support when I review, discuss, analyse and interpret my students’ work (AITSL, 2014a).  It is crucial to discuss with other year level teachers why students have/have not grasped the content being taught.  Moderation with colleagues in the same year level enables the teacher to make consistent and comparable judgements of student learning (AITSL, 2014a).  I witnessed this with a year 4 teacher consulting with same year level teachers regarding student narrative assessments refer to figure 3.  It enabled the teachers’ to identify gaps among the year level and provide a standardised approach towards the intended learning outcomes. 

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As a graduate teacher it will be difficult to determine the level of achievement from student work but I am determined to become highly accomplished in interpreting student data, standard 5.4 (AITSL, 2014) and therefore I will use a variety of both formative and summative assessment throughout the learning process to evaluate ongoing learning as it will help me identify interventions required and if I need to modify and improve my teaching practices (School Curriculum and Standards Authority, [SCASA] (2014).  I have created a folder of student work samples from all year levels and subjects and downloaded the judging standards from SCASA (2014) (appendix F).  This will be a great reference tool and support me when reporting against the achievement standards for each year level to easily identify and explain differences between student achievement levels.  Furthermore, interpreting student assessment data will help identify students who have progressed beyond the year level achievement standards and require moderation and those students that need extra support. 

 

As a graduate teacher I will need to work towards demonstrating understanding of reporting on student achievement, standard 5.5 (AITSL, 2014). I will ask for assistance from colleagues when necessary to create reports based on evidence from reliable record taking from student learning.  I also intend to use student portfolio’s in my classroom as I believe a collection of dated student work samples clearly demonstrates learning progress to both students and parents.  I have observed student portfolios used in a year 4 classroom refer to figure 4.  Students love to select some of their own work to go in their portfolio and enjoy showing their parents their ongoing achievements.

 

Maintaining student progress records with a collection of dated work samples or assessment records can assist the teacher by informing future learning requirements and assist with reporting and most importantly provided evidence of learning during parent discussion.  As discussed by Readman and Allen (2013) efficient assessment records supports the teacher in conversations with parents and provides accountability towards the teachers assessment practices.  This assessment approach is also known as Assessment of learning and incorporates summative assessment as part of the whole learning process.  The teacher can use this approach as evidence of student learning and base student achievement from goals and standards set.  I have observed many examples of summative assessment in the form of oral presentations or projects and I have participated in bench mark reading level tests using the Holborn reading scale and the Oxford Literacy assessment.

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AITSL Standard 6

Engage in professional learning

6.1 Identify and plan professional learning needs

6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice

6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice

6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning

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AITSL Standard 7

Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

 

7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities

As a graduate teacher I will be required to engage professionally with colleagues, parents and carers in the community (AITSL, 2014).  I will endeavour to engage in professional collaborations with more knowledgeable teachers to enable me the opportunity to learn from my colleagues, seek advice, ideas and support.  Support can be given from colleagues to assist in maintaining ethical standards as per the example provided by AITSL (2014b).  A co-ordinator supported a colleague by discussing and examining the evidence of a student’s written assessment that did not match the student’s current achievement level.  The teacher clearly demonstrated appropriate measures and support had been given to the student throughout the learning with clear expectations set and could provide evidence that the written assessment did not match the students current achievement level.  The teacher followed due process and the co-ordinator was happy that a fair and ethical approach was followed (AITSL, 2014b).  I will therefore provide a sense of fairness, validity and reliability with all assessment tasks I set for all students (Sumich, 2017).  This will be achieved by catering to individual needs of students by modifying assessment based on strengths and weaknesses and setting tasks that will not create undue stress, to create an inclusive classroom environment.  I demonstrated this on my practicum with a class of year 4-5 students with a reading and comprehension lesson activity.  I had modified my teaching practice by small grouping three students who I knew would struggle with the reading and comprehension activity and we worked together.  I did not expect full sentence answers from these three students as they were working towards this goal but we discussed what a full sentence answer may sound like to help scaffold them.  I will cater for differentiation in my classroom by structuring the learning environment to suit individual student learning either through group work, pairs, one on one or whole class discussions.

 

I believe collaboration with colleagues will also assist me to further engage in reflective practices to assist me to develop and improve on my own skills and also assist me to assess my own performance.  Reflection on the planning process also helps teachers consider the students needs and ensures students gain from the learning activity (Whitton, 2010).  I have already started to demonstrate reflection in my lesson plans (appendix G, page 2) and the Supervisor assessment (appendix H) also confirmed that I have already formed critical self-reflection skills.  

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An ethical consideration I feel strongly about is supporting and nurturing parent partnerships, by building and promoting relationships based on mutual respect. In a short time frame I developed a wonderful rapport with students but also developed a professional and respectful relationship with both staff and parents.  This is demonstrated in my formative evaluation (refer appendix C, page 2) and also my summative evaluation (refer appendix I).  By engaging in high ethical standards I am working towards meeting AITSL standard 7.

 

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7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements

7.3 Engage with the parents/carers

7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities

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